


Hermitcraft Civil War

by kintrash413



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Angst, Gen, Whump, basically the civil war but more serious, hermitcraft civil war, theres a bunch more characters but theyre not mains so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2020-12-16 14:56:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21038075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kintrash413/pseuds/kintrash413
Summary: The civil war in hermitcraft, but much more serious. due to season six ending I won't be continuing this fic. if someone else wants to write more that's fine, but I'm quite happy with the last chapter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [a xylophone set on automatic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18985762) by [Vulpeccula](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vulpeccula/pseuds/Vulpeccula). 

> dying in hermitcraft basically means you pass out and return to your spawn for three days, and wake up with the same injuries you died with. hunger doesn't affect health in this universe, so they have to deal with their injuries until they heal (twice as fast as injuries in the real world)

Grian couldn't say when, but at some point, it all went wrong. At some point, the pranks stopped being just pranks, and Team Star no longer their friends. 

He was sure similar thoughts clouded the other's minds as they stood around the flag, waiting for everyone to gather. It'd all gone too far. Grian sighed deeply before speaking up. "Okay... I'm... I'm having second thoughts about all this."

The teams let him speak, but Grian could feel their hostile glares, even his own team couldn't believe what they were hearing. "I mean... are we really willing to lose lives over this? Over a few pranks that went wrong?"

Grian glanced around, hoping to find support in some of the hermits. Especially Doc. As leader of Team Star, peace with him could mean an end to all of this. But Doc's narrowed eyes betrayed nothing friendly. Still, a few hermits watched him curiously, which was all the motivation Grian needed to continue. 

"So, maybe a few went too far, or were taken the wrong way, but, well, just look at what we accomplished in just a few weeks!" Grian gestured to their bases, first Team G's, then Team Star's. "Just imagine what we could create with all of us together. Like it used to be." 

A few hermits exchanged glances, their stances not quite so hostile. Even Doc seemed interested in the proposition! Grian's plan might just work, no war needed. 

At least, until Grian heard the familiar sound of TNT beginning to go off. Before he could locate the sound, the flag blew up right in front of his very eyes, reducing the wool making up the flag to ashes. Grian's eyes widened in horror as he looked upon his fellow teammates. Tango was badly injured and lying on the floor, so Grian instinctively ran to him. Had Team Star done this?? 

"Take him to the base!" Grian ordered whoever was closest. iJevin was quick to follow the order, taking Tango up in his arms. Grian looked over at the other side, where Team Star was standing there, stunned, for a confused moment. It was hard to believe it, but the war had begun. 

It didn't take long for everyone to begin running away and shooting their weapons. Grian threw his trident blindly, standing on his toes to try and find Mumbo. But his figure had been hidden behind the hill, and Grian could only hope that he was okay. "GET BACK!" Grian ordered, hearing his call for retreat echoed by Doc. Neither team needed any prompting before heading back to their respective bases. 

_ _ _ 

Grian stood near Tango worriedly, who was groaning in pain on his seat. He'd been bandaged up, but that didn't stop the pain or his wooziness from lack of blood. 

"This isn't the time to be mothering him, this is the time for a plan!" Iskall snapped. 

"Right..." Grian muttered softly, casting Tango a worried look before returning to his seat. Had Tango been just a few steps closer, he would've ended up with much more than a nasty scar. 

Grian gritted his teeth at the thought of how heartless Team Star was being. Well if they wanted a war that badly, so be it! 

"All right!" Grian announced, surprised by how much anger was in his tone. "A war is inevitable, so we might as well give it to them!"

His team murmured in agreement, distracted momentarily by a sudden yelp of pain on Tango's part. 

"Someone will have to stay with Tango, to ensure that he's okay." 

By Tango's expression, he didn't seem to like the idea much, but he was in too much pain to protest. 

Before anyone could decide on who would stay behind, they were once again interrupted. This time, by the unmistakable sound of a ghast ball smacking against their base. 

Grian froze, but only for a moment before directing orders. "Everyone, get into positions!"

"What about the counter-measures??" Cloe demanded. "Our weapons- Tango was in charge of those!"

"Tango _and Iskall_," Grian reminded her darkly before turning to Iskall. "Can you handle it on your own?"

Iskall pried his eyes from the enemy's base and the fireballs that came hurtling out of it before answering. "Yeah!"

Grian nodded and ran downstairs with Stress. They took some time, wasting precious seconds in their panic, but finally managed to mount their horses and run onto the battlefield.

The No-Man's Land was almost indistinguishable from a mere few minutes ago. Fires littered the ground, wrecking the ground beneath it into a series of dents in the earth. 

Grian tightened his grip on his horse's main, forcing himself to focus through his adrenaline. They need protection, first and foremost. Grian took the TNT from his inventory. "Here, take this!" he threw half the blocks towards Stress, who looked at them in confusion but picked them up all the same. "We need to create a barrier... with trenches." Grian looked toward the star fort with disgust before laying a line of TNT within the middle. Stress quickly followed suit. "We'll set it off once someone gets close."

Hopefully, setting it off at just the right moment will not only create a barrier, but kill whatever unlucky enemy happened to stroll near. After realizing what he just planned, Grian felt sick. Had he really, so nonchalantly, thought to kill a fellow hermit? Had anyone died yet?? Grian glanced toward Stress, who was watching him with an almost horrified expression. Grian started to apologize but... no. He said what he meant. 

Grian watched the enemy lines, struggling to avoid the fires directed at him. All the same, he couldn't help but sneak a peek at the chat.

[Welsknight was blown up by cubfan135]

God, Grian felt like throwing up. He barely knew the guy, but an innocent life had been taken by... by Cub. Cub wasn't even in the war. Had he...?

"Incoming!" Stress announced. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be trying to update this very business week, or, every five days. long wait I know but I try to make each chapter long enough to make up for it :3

"Incoming!" Stress announced. 

Grian forced his thoughts away from ConCorp, instead following Stress' gaze to where Xisuma was running toward them, diamond sword in hand. 

"Should we fire?" Stress asked, her voice shaking with the prospect of killing someone. Grian was quiet, at a loss for words. It was Xisuma or them, and he couldn't bring himself to light the TNT. To blow Xisuma up. To be responsible for his death. 

"I..." Grian began helplessly. Luckily, or perhaps, unluckily, he didn't have to make that decision. He only watched, frozen in place, as a ghast ball hurtled toward the TNT and lit them on fire. "DUCK FOR COVER!" Grian shouted, a moment too late. The explosion threw him back, jarring his sense of location. By the time he regained it, a new message had popped up on the chat. 

[Stressmonster101 blew up]

Grian laid there for a moment, unable to get up. Perhaps he was in shock, or perhaps the explosion had more of an effect on him than he thought. Either way, several thoughts flew thew his head repeatedly, and he was unable to decide on which one to believe. Either, he had killed Stress by hesitating. Or, hell, even by deciding to place the blocks in the first place. What a stupid idea. The other thought was that Team Star had done this. Team Star had fired the ghast ball. Team Star had killed his teammate, and revenge was in order. But not now, for now, Grian was in too much pain and shock to move. 

Stress was gone. For three days. God, his heart ached. And the amount of pain she'd be in when she returned... 

Grian wasn't sure when he'd been moved, but the next thing he managed to process was that he was being shaken, and the taste of cooked cod was thick on his tongue. Grian blinked a few times, trying to understand where he was, and who was shaking him. But his brain seemed to be having quite some trouble snapping back to reality. 

"Grian!" came a panicked, familiar voice. "Oh god, Grian, please! Please be okay..." 

Grian tried to open his mouth, but no sound came out for a while. He seemed to be sitting in a cave, with a mustached man brimming with tears in front of him. "Mumbo..." Grian managed finally, surprised by the hoarseness in his voice. How long had it been? 

"Thank god!" Mumbo announced, stopping his panicked shaking to hold Grian tightly. Grian instinctively hugged him back, resting his head on Mumbo's shoulder. "What..." Grian began, not entirely sure how to finish the question. He was so lost, the knowledge of Stress' death numbing his thoughts. 

"I thought you were gone!" Mumbo confessed, his tears of fear and relief making Grian's sweater moist. "I-i couldn't find you, and Doc was getting suspicious, and, and..." Mumbo forced himself to take a deep breath, and both were quiet for a while. "I'm glad you're okay." 

"Stress' dead." Grian stated bluntly. 

"She'll be back," Mumbo noted gently, trying to shed some light on the situation.

"That doesn't make it okay!" Grian countered, remembering how he'd been too late to warn her. 

"I know, I know..."

What if he'd told her to duck sooner? Would she still be alive? 

"It's okay." 

They both sat in silence for a while, comforting each other for god knows how long. The cave they were in didn't have any sunlight, only light from hastily placed torches. Finally, Grian managed to faze back into reality. As much as he could, anyway. He was in the middle of battle, the first of what would be many in this war. He couldn't stay long, it'd only break Mumbo's cover. 

Grian forced himself to push Stress' death to the back of his mind, and he didn't dare glance at the chat. Grian screwed his eyes shut for a moment, bracing himself before roughly pushing himself away from Mumbo and getting to his feet. 

Mumbo looked up at him curiously, his eyes still glossy. 

"We... we need to go." Grian stated, trying to steady his nerves. "I need your mole report! And... you need to get back. Before you're figured out."

Mumbo nodded hesitantly, glancing down with a sad smile. "That's why you're in charge, Grian. I could never be as strong as you in a situation like this."

Grian didn't have a reply, so simply watched Mumbo collect himself for a short moment before extending a hand, which Mumbo took to get to his feet. 

"The zombie attack..." Mumbo began hesitantly. "It hurt us, them, badly. I can't... they plan to fire creepers over."

"What's their next plan of action?"

"I don't... Doc doesn't think that far," Mumbo confessed. 

"Did Team Star blow up the flag?"

"N-no! We thought... they thought you did!" 

Grian thought about this new information, but only for a moment. "You need to get going. Back to Doc, gain their trust."

"Okay..." Mumbo hesitated a moment, as if he wasn't ready to leave. But finally, he cast a final glance at Grian before walking out.

"Don't die...!" Grian called after him, a moment too late. As always. Just like with Stress. 


	3. Chapter 3

Once Mumbo was sure to be in the clear, Grian headed out, looking around at the scene. Stress' items had already despawned. Or, maybe someone had picked them up. Either way, the battleground was mostly empty. All that remained were fires only the Nether could compete with, and Scar. Scar was watching from his stupid shop, his eyes locked on Grian with his ever-present smirk plastered on his face. Not too long ago he'd pranked everyone by leaving free cookies all over the island. Now he was profiting from the spoils of war. 

Scar's smirk only seemed to widen as he approached Grian, and Grian braced himself as he went to meet him in the middle.

"Grian, it's been a while." Scar mused, as if he wasn't aware of the death and destruction he happily fueled. Maybe he enjoyed it. 

Grian bared his teeth. "Fucking proud of yourself, Scar? Knowing you helped kill innocent hermits? That you funded their deaths??"

"Why, I couldn't be happier! In fact, me and Cub are ranking hundreds of diamonds on the daily."

"What do you want, Scar?"

Scar put his hand over his chest in mock shock. "What, I can't just say hello to a good friend?" he pouted at Grian's glare before smiling again. "Alright, you caught me. I have a business proposition for you."

"No!" Grian spat suddenly, surprising even himself. "You..." Welsknight's death message suddenly popped in his head. "You killed Wels- you and Cub!" Grian snatched the front of Scar's shirt, forcing him down to his height. 

Scar crouched awkwardly, seeming surprised for only a second. "And you killed Stress, I'd say that makes us even." 

"I didn't! I... what the fuck do you want?" Grian sounded wary all of a sudden, tired despite the angry front he tried to keep up.

"Face it, Grian. They have Xisuma on their team, no way you're gonna win against an admin without a little help." 

"Xisuma would never abuse his power like that," Grian retaliated. The most he'd seen Xisuma use his admin privileges for was to get rid of ghost blocks. 

"Things are getting desperate, Grian," Scar carelessly pulled Grian's hand away, standing back to his full height once more. "You might not like Con Corp, but we're your best shot at living."

"I'll die first."

"That might just be the case."

Grian was silent, stunned as Scar twirled around and headed back to his mini store. His cowardice hidey hole, really. Free to profit without any risk of danger. And no one would try to kill him because, well... he was right. Both teams needed him to win. 

"Wait." Grian muttered, hating himself for what he was about to do. 

Scar stopped and turned around, his smirk suggesting he knew Grian would give in, which only made him more pissed. But what could he do?

"You're right. We need you."

"Well, of course you do!" Scar agreed, walking back over to Grian. "What'll it be?"

Grian thought for a moment, thinking back to the TNT they had used. The TNT had killed Stress and, though Grian felt sick at the thought, that only meant it was effective. "I need TNT. lots of it."

"TNT's an expensive block, Grian." Scar thought for a moment before continuing. "I can get you 100 stacks for 2 stacks of diamonds."

"One..." Grian gulped. That would definitely help in the war. "That's... cheap. What are you playing at?"

"Nothing! Just a good deal for a good team." Scar placed an enderchest on the floor in front of Grian and watched him expectantly. 

Grian narrowed his eyes, not ready to give away his diamonds quite yet. "Cub said you guys were neutral shopkeepers."

Scar glanced at Grian, seeming impatient, but quickly covered it with a smile. "It's hard not to pick favourites, G-team."

For a moment, Grian could feel a sparkling of hope. If Con Corp favoured them, then they just might win this thing! Maybe even without any more respawns. Then he realized they probably said those lines to Team Star as well, and the feeling evaporated. 

Reluctantly, Grian opened the enderchest and forked over the two stacks of diamonds he owed. Scar took them gladly, seeming nothing if not pleased. "We'll have the TNT to you soon." With that, Scar took the chest and headed back to his store. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm gonna try and keep with the schedule I set out with, but since school is starting up again some chapters might come out a bit late! so apologies in advance

Grian was fairly sure neither team would want to attack until at least three days have passed, enough time for everyone to respawn. So until then, Grian decided to send out his mole orders to Mumbo. 

Earlier, he had told Mumbo to gain Doc's trust. These orders were simply to further explain what he meant by that. Such as, to do so no matter the consequences. Grian didn't even want to think about what they'd do to Mumbo if they found him suspicious. So if he had to kill a few G Team members to keep that from happening, so be it. 

Even though Grian began to hate the person he'd become, the drastic measures he was willing to take, he knew they had no choice. 

The rest of the day was spent setting up traps at the G Team base, which came in handy several hours later when Iskall got their attention from the post he had been standing at, watching from. "They're attacking soon," Iskall announced. 

Grian froze. "But... it hasn't been three days yet!" 

"They don't care," Iskall replied darkly. Grian could feel the panic swelling in him. The only people even at the base were him, Iskall and Tango. And Tango was in no shape to do serious fighting quite yet- he was healing, sure, but not fast enough. 

"What should we do?" Iskall asked. 

Grian forced himself to take a deep breath, knowing his team was counting on him. "Have Tango message everyone else on the team, hopefully some will come in time." But that wasn't nearly good enough, they were severely outnumbered and Iskall knew it. "Stress' dog's- they listen to you, right?"

Iskall nodded, the two spent so much time at each other's base that Iskall almost knew the dogs as well as Stress herself. 

"Good, stand them up. They'll attack Team Star with us." Grian looked nervously at the entrance, like they might come at any moment now. "We need potions of invisibility- the armour stand trick! Go!" Grian left Iskall to scurry off on his task, while Grian ran off to the potions, quickly chugging an invisibility potion and changing his armour. He felt less safe without his diamond gear, but the thought was redundant. 

The only person who managed to show up on time was Joe, everyone else was too far away. Grian told him the instructions quickly, trying not to panic, quickly glancing around for Team Star's nametags. For the first time- Grian noticed a message in chat. 

[Renthedog tried to swim in lava]

Team Star had fallen for their traps. Grian waited for the familiar sick feeling of knowing someone had died because of him to occur, but nothing happened. Had he really become immune to the feeling? To death?

"Waiting on you!" Joe announced, nervousness in his voice. Out of everyone on their team, Joe was the most anxious about the war. The one who liked it least. 

"Wait! They'll come soon enough," Grian ordered, briefly glancing around. As far as he could tell, everyone was in position. Tango had messaged everyone he could, and was now safely tucked away in his vulnerable state. 

So, the three waited, filled to the brim with nervous energy, Joe trying his best not to hyperventilate. 

Too soon, Team Star found the entrance. And one by one they came through, glancing around with weapons in hand. The tension in the room could've been cut with a knife, but Grian waited until everyone was in, and they were too far into the room to leave. "Go!" Grian equipped his trident and hit whoever was nearest, which happened to be Xisuma. The trident ripped through his arm, making Xisuma scream in agony and clench the injury with his good hand. The now-bloodied trident returned to Grian's hand to be used again. 

[JoeHills was slain by Mumbo Jumbo] 

Iskall was jumping around, sword in hand but barely using it. The second False attacked him, the dogs were unleashed. 

Grian only had to step back and watch the damage be done from there, certain the dogs would easily handle the rest. 

[Falsesymmetry was slain by wolf]

[Xisuma was slain by wolf]

The rest of Team Star seemed to realize that they weren't as prepared as they thought they were, but one more death message showed up before they came to their senses enough to flee. 

[Docm77 was slain by Iskall85] 

The remaining two, impulse and Mumbo, quickly fled the scene in a panic. 

Grian uttered a sigh of relief, taking a moment to catch his breath from the panic. He backed up, leaning against the wall in horror at what he'd witnessed. 

"They'll definitely wait three days this time," Iskall announced proudly. He barely seemed affected, at least until he noticed Grian's state. "You alright?"

Grian could feel himself trembling, unable to control his actions. He clumsily grabbed Iskall's shoulders, needing him to understand. "Iskall... we killed them... Joe's..." Joe didn't even want to be a part of this war, and he still died because of it. 

Iskall frowned, backing away from Grian's reach. "This is war, what did you expect? Get a hold of yourself, Grian."

"I..." Grian forced his gaze to the ground. The world seemed to be spinning around him, the edges of his vision darkened. "J-just, give me a minute." 

Grian barely processed Iskall walking off when he half-fell to the ground, his breath quickening beyond his control. Joe. False. X. Doc. Dead- no, killed. Most of them weren't on his side but that didn't make it okay!

His vision was filled with recent memories of the wolf's fangs tearing through False and Xisuma's flesh, tearing them apart as they screamed... Grian covered his ears but that didn't help. Viscous growls and terrified screams still swamped him. Mumbo killed... sure, Grian told him to, but... oh, god what he did he do? It was a stupid prank. It never should've happened. And now... 

Grian couldn't help a sob escape his lips. This was never supposed to happen. No one was supposed to die. Iskall wasn't supposed to be so damn bloodthirsty. Grian wasn't supposed to be the front runner of his team, encouraging the war until his side won... what? Nothing worth the lives taken, that's for sure. 

But most of all, Grian wasn't supposed to be such a horrible leader. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I kind of lost inspiration for a while. Hope you like it all the same !

Doc woke up gasping, the many scars along his body, most deep enough to kill, stinging badly enough that it took him a while to gather his surroundings. 

He was in the Team Star's base. His injuries had been wrapped up, by Mumbo most likely. 

Currently, Wels was by his side asking if he was okay, a question he had to ask several times before Doc fully processed it. Based on the open chest nearby, Wels had been looking for something when Doc woke up.

"I'm well enough," Doc stated simply, sitting up with a soft groan. He glanced over at Wels, who was peering at him worriedly. Wels had some pretty bad injuries himself- he only would've respawned a couple of days ago at most. "Good to have you back."

Wels grinned shyly at the compliment. "Same to you, sir. You haven't missed much- we've been waiting for you to respawn before doing anything."

Doc nodded, grabbing onto the bedpost to get up carefully. Luckily, most of the slashes were focused on his upper half. While that just made it more fatal and, probably more painful, Doc could still walk well enough. 

"Do you want me to call the rest over for a meeting?" Wels asked nervously. 

Doc nodded distractedly, letting Wels scuttle off to do so. When the war first started Wels had been at the front, excited to have a fun time on hermitcraft he had been missing for quite some time. But once things got more serious he was quick to push himself to the back burners. Happy to help, sure, but war obviously made him nervous. And he rarely did any actual fighting. 

It probably didn't help that Doc took to the leader role like a tree to fire. Something about him commanded attention, and Doc had to admit, he liked the feeling. Once Ren came back though, Doc had tried his best to hand the metaphorical throne over to him. But Ren wasn't good at handling it, nor did he truly want it. So, Doc considered himself the leader of Team Star and was determined to honour that role well. Right now, that meant taking care of himself. 

Doc grabbed some potions of healing and pulled himself to the bathroom, where he looked into the glass mirror to catch his reflection. God, he looked bad. Taking off the bandages to drip some healing potion on them revealed some pretty deep scars. The most fatal of which was over his neck, going up onto his cheek toward the end before fading. Doc spent an entire bottle trying to relieve the pain from the still bleeding blow. 

The other wounds were much less severe, albeit still rather painful. A deep cut going from his elbow to his wrist. A stab wound on the side of his stomach, which Doc dared not fully remove the wrappings from. And a bruised rib that he chugged down two bottles for, hoping it'd help. At the very least, he hoped to be walking at a normal pace in a couple of days, without having to grab the sides of things to keep balanced as he currently was. 

Doc walked like such down the stairs, heavily sitting down into a chair in the meeting room. Mumbo and False were the only ones there, False watching Doc boredly and Mumbo picking at the wood in the table nervously. 

Mumbo had been a useless nervous wreck throughout the entire war, easily outshined by False who had a forever unsatisfied thirst for blood and PvP. All the same, both fell quiet once Doc walked in. He chose to ignore them for now. 

impulse walked in soon enough, a grin on his face. "Hey! Welcome back, Doc." he sat down lazily on a chair, his arm over the back. impulse was one of the few who actually fully supported the war for the true reason it started: revenge. For him, it was against Tango. 

Though, Doc didn't bother speaking up until Ren came in. He came in with Xisuma, who was trailed by Wels, who had apparently brought them here. Xisuma sat down without a word, but Ren leaned into his seat with a lazy smile. "We ready to get this thing started again?"

"Well, not yet!" Wels interrupted. "We still need to heal..."

"No, Ren's right. We need to attack while they're still weak. The only person they lost was Joe- that's unacceptable!" 

"What?" Mumbo demanded in disbelief. "You can't- we both- No one here is in good enough condition to fight!"

Doc narrowed his eyes, glaring at Mumbo. Mumbo was their spy, more or less. When he'd explained the situation to Ren, Ren pointed out how suspicious the whole arrangement was. For some reason, the thought had never occurred to Doc, but after that, it'd been on his mind near constantly. "What's it to you Mumbo? Are you more worried about them or us getting hurt?" 

Mumbo flinched, seeming to sense he strayed out of line with his accusation. "U-us, of course! I'm just worried... Attacking now without warning? Maybe in a few days to give time to... heal..."

Ren rolled his eyes. Had it been up to him, Mumbo would've been banned long ago. Maybe he was right.

"Heal, right," Doc muttered, glaring at Mumbo. "Meanwhile, G Team grows stronger while we 'take a bit of a break' in the middle of a war! You're doing nothing but giving them a chance to attack."

Mumbo winced, glancing around nervously and sputtering as he tried to come up with an excuse. But Doc wasn't having it. "Hell, I'm sure that was part of your plan! Well, not your plan, God knows you can't do anything without kissing up to Grian first!"

"I'm sure that's not what he meant," False snapped protectively. "Give the kid a break, he's just not thinking straight."

Mumbo glanced at Flase appreciatively, who proceeded to ignore him completely. Doc sat back in his chair with an annoyed sigh. "Right. Well then, Mumbo. Give us your report."

"Uh, r-right," he stammered nervously, clearly struggling to get his thoughts together. "Well, Grian, he's... he's not good. I don't think... they'll be attacking for a while. And- they gave me this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a written book, dropping it on the table. 

Ren reached over and grabbed it before Doc got the chance, quickly flipping through it. Doc peered over Ren's shoulder to find all but the first page completely empty. Even then, all it said was "Rig one of their machines to explode. Blame it on someone else on the team."

"Are all of your orders like this?" Doc asked. The message seemed so abrupt and vague. Plus, a book? It was just begging to be found, really. 

"Well, uh-" Mumbo began, clearly having not expected this question. "I mean, usually they're told to me, but, um, no, wait, crap..." 

Doc narrowed his eyes. "Ren, I think you were right," Doc muttered to Ren before glancing at False. Even she, who usually looked so protective over the boy, seemed to have her doubts. But it was Xisuma who broke the tense silence by grabbing the back of Mumbo's shirt and throwing him on the floor, making him yelp in shock. 

"Wh-what are you doing??" Mumbo demanded, aghast.

"I don't think Doc believes you anymore," Ren sneered, circling around Mumbo as Xisuma visibly struggled to keep him down. "What are you hiding?"

"Find somewhere to trap Mumbo," Doc ordered Xisuma, who nodded and forced Mumbo to his feet. "I'll deal with him later."

Doc watched Xisuma pull Mumbo off and out of the house before turning his attention back to his team. "Wels and Impulse, I need you to look around the base. Make sure nothing... changed. False, check our weapon supply." Doc glanced over at Ren, who was still watching where Xisuma had left with Mumbo. "The next battle will be soon."


	6. Chapter 6

Doc walked around Mumbo slowly, taking him in. Mumbo was tied up in a chair he couldn't seem to escape from despite his thrashing, claiming pleas of innocence Doc didn't believe. 

"How long have you been siding with Team G? Since the beginning, perhaps?" Doc asked sweetly, knowing the kinder his tone the more it'd freak Mumbo out. 

"I- I'm not with Team G! I'm with you guys!"

Ren laughed at that. He was leaning against the wall of the small cave they were in, watching the scene unfold with amusement. 

Doc slammed his hands down on the arms of Mumbo's chair, making him flinch badly. "Cut the crap, Mumbo!" He snapped.

Doc could tell Mumbo's lips were trembling, especially because it made his moustache shake. Doc smirked and pulled away to glare at Mumbo for a few moments. "Now that we've caught you, do you have anything to say? About G Team, perhaps?"

Mumbo remained silent, probably realizing it was best not to say anything. He was right, Doc figured, but that didn't bode him too well. So, Doc stepped forward and punched Mumbo in the face as hard as he could manage. 

Mumbo yelped in pain, struggling to move away from Doc in a fruitless efort as blood dripped down from his now-crooked nose. Doc could tell Mumbo was starting to panic and hyperventilate, even before Doc used his sword to stab into Mumbo's forearm with all his might. Mumbo may have screamed in agony, but Doc only smirked in satisfaction at the sickening sound of crunching bone under his blade. 

"I'll say it again. Do you have anything to say?"

_ _ _

It was easy to say that Grian was nervous, but that would be an understatement. Truthfully, he's been trying his best to suppress an anxiety attack ever since Doc sent him the vague as hell warning to meet him, followed by co-ordinates. 

Grian was wearing iron armour, his trident held so tight in his hands it turned his knuckles white. He kept glancing around nervously, certain this was a trap and regretting his decision to not bring anyone else with him. He just... didn't want someone else to get hurt. 

Despite Grian's worrying, he encountered nothing dangerous during his journey, finally finding a small cave carved into a nearby hill. Grian hesitated for a few moments, then jumped when he spotted a red eye shining in the darkness, followed by Doc walking into view from the darkness. 

"Grian," he stated simply. Grian couldn't muster up a reply fast enough, trying to still his shaking hands, so Doc just walked back into the cave, gesturing for Grian to follow.

Without much of a choice, Grian followed, squinting his eyes against the darkness. He could just barely make out a couple of figures, only to wince when a torch was placed down, burning his eyes for a moment just when he had become adjusted to the darkness. Grian blinked a few times before looking around, taking an instinctive step backwards when he did. Ren and Doc were both standing nearby. They had no weapons in their hands, but it still worried Grian, since he was outnumbered. But that wasn't even the worst of it. Sitting in a chair, his arms and legs wrapped to the sides, was Mumbo. 

Mumbo's head was down, barely conscious. His right eye was badly bruised, and the rest of his face was too caked in blood to tell how bad he was doing. There were too many stab wounds littering his body to count, nearly all of them bleeding a dangerous amount. "Mumbo!" Grian gasped, instinctively trying to go to his side, only to be stopped by Doc grabbing his arm, hard enough to bruise. 

"We know he's been spying for you," Doc murmured into his ear. Grian had to hastily bite down onto his sleeve to keep from hyperventilating. If he was anxious before, he was straight up panicking now. Mumbo had been found out- and there was nothing Grian could do to protect either of them. 

He heard Doc chuckle before letting go of Grian's arm. "Obviously we don't want him anymore. But we can't just let you have him... not without a price." 

Grian slowly removed his sleeve from his mouth, trying, and failing, to sound much braver than he currently felt. "And- and what price would that be?" 

"Well..." Doc looked at Grian up and down before focusing on Mumbo again. "You have that trident with you, you might as well use it."

It took Grian way too long to figure out what Doc meant, and when he did he felt like throwing up. "You... you want me to kill Mumbo?" Grian asked, his voice cracking. God, this was awful. Why would anyone do this? 

"Look at that, you finally figured it out!" Ren mused, impatience clear in his voice. 

The two Star Team members watched him expectantly, and Grian knew there was no way out of here except the way they were demanding. Grian forced himself to take a deep breath before walking forward. "M-Mumbo? Are... are you okay?" he asked softly. 

Mumbo tilted his head slightly but didn't reply. He was way too out of it. Grian could only hope that Mumbo wouldn't realize who was killing him as he hesitantly pressed the trident's prongs against Mumbo's chest.

"What're you waiting for?" Ren demanded.

Grian winced, and before he could back out, shoved the trident into Mumbo's chest, trying his best to make the process quick. Mumbo opened his mouth to scream, but instead, all that came out was a choked sob. Grian could feel Mumbo's hand brush his own just before he shattered into experience points and items, which Grian felt sick picking up. Like it was some reward for murder. 

"See, that wasn't so bad," Doc mused. grabbing Grian's shoulder firmly. "When he respawns, he's all yours. And don't worry- we made sure to break his spawn bed in our base." 

Grian stiffened and bared his teeth. They'd let Mumbo wake up alone on spawn island? 

"Now get lost," Doc ordered, shoving Grian outside the makeshift cave and sending him stumbling a few steps before managing to stop. Mumbo's blood was still drying on his hands and had already stained his trident. Grian shook his head, knowing what Iskall would say if he found him so distraught. 'We're getting a new member in three days, why the hell should you be upset over that?' And Iskall would be right, of course. But that didn't make it hurt any less, it just made it easier to ignore. 

When Grian made his way back to the base, something caught the corner of his eye. A flower planted not too far from the entrance. Cub or Scar finally delivered the TNT. 

Grian looked around him to make sure no one was watching before digging up the flower to expose the shulker boxes beneath, each filled to the brim with TNT. It was a welcome sight, to say the least. After the shit Team Star did to them... they deserved it. 

Grian headed inside with the shulkers in his inventory, glancing around for someone who could help carry it all or even have some ideas on how to use it for traps. Ever since the surprise attack, he'd ordered everyone to set their spawn in the base and stay there. 

Stress was nearby, feeding some of her dogs lovingly. 

"Stress!" Grian called. she glanced over and walked to him. She got back on her feet rather quickly after respawning. "Carry some of this for me."

"What's it for?" she asked, taking a few shulker boxes from him. 

The two walked down to their storage while Grian explained. "TNT is an effective weapon, Stress. We could certainly make some traps with this..."

"How did the meeting go?" Stress interrupted.

Grian hesitated a moment, before saying simply "Mumbo will be joining our team once he respawns. Officially, this time." There was no need to explain why Mumbo had died. He's certain everyone on the server would've seen that** [MumboJumbo was slain by Grian]**.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been away for so long, life happens. But hopefully, I'll get back to uploading semi consistently!

"I love war," Scar sighed happily as he cheerfully went through his many, many diamonds. 

Cub chuckled, leaning back in his chair. A few of his drone cameras had been compromised, and one had even been captured. He'd have to see about that later. "This war is really taking off," Cub mused, frowning slightly. When he first started profiting off of it it had been a joke. He'd never meant to kill anyone. 

Jellie distracted him from his thoughts, jumping on his lap and meowing until Cub pet her. Scar glanced over and smirked. "She's telling you the richest hermits on the server shouldn't be too sad about temporary deaths." 

"You're right," Cub agreed hesitantly, scratching Jellie's ear gently until she started purring. Scar, having spent more time dead than alive by now, wasn't one to take death too seriously. "I heard Xisuma's forcing Doc and Grian into a meeting."

"He's not trying to stop the war is he?" Scar asked. "I mean, he was affected by G-Team's crimes as well."

Cub just shrugged. It seemed like an Xisuma thing to do, but he wasn't sure. "I'll be sure to listen and find out," he reassured his business partner. 

Scar cackled at the idea and sat next to Cub dramatically. "When is it happening?"

"Tomorrow. I'll have to figure out where so I can plant a drone."

Scar thought for a moment. "That's not a lot of time... I could head over to Team Star's base and ask XIsuma, pretending I'm selling something."

"Maybe even make a sale in the meantime," Cub mused, his eyes shining at the thought of diamonds. "Offer the co-ordinates of a couple of G-Team traps, that should sell for ten diamonds each."

Scar nodded and flew off. Cub went back to monitoring his cameras. From here, Cub could see Scar land on the Team Star building, looking around for Xisuma. 

Cub switched between a couple of drones to see where Xisuma was, seems he was busy restocking some potions. Scar approached him on the camera, and Cub zoomed in, trying to read their lips to no avail. 

After several tense minutes of the two chatting, Cub could see Xisuma handing Scar some diamonds. Seems at least one part of the plan succeeded. Shortly after, Scar headed out and flew back to their shop in between the two warzones.

"Well?" Cub asked impatiently.

"I made us 20 diamonds," Scar announced proudly, handing Cub 10. "And they're meeting at the statue of hermitee. 

"That should be easy to spy on, just hide below, all that empty space should surely come in handy."

"Only if you drink an invisibility potion," Scar replied. "Xisuma totally forgot to light the entire thing."

"I'll go buy one," Cub stated, getting up. "Are you gonna be there?" 

Scar was already shaking his head. "I'll keep an eye out here just in case something goes awry."

___

Cub had his back against the prismarine blocks behind him, darkness completely surrounding him. The sound of mobs could be heard in the distance, but none close enough to find him whilst invisible. He had several other invisibility potions in his inventory as well, all eight minutes. 

He waited patiently until soon he heard rockets and footsteps at the top. That would be Grian. He seemed to pace for a bit before stopping. Then someone else landed.

"Hello, Grian." That would be Xisuma. 

"Let's just get this over with," Grian mumbled, anger in his tone. 

"Not until Doc gets here." 

There was a tense silence between the two until finally, the sound of another elytra caught Cub's attention, followed by a familiar German accent.

"Alright man, what do you want?"

Xisuma cleared his throat nervously before beginning. "This war... I think it has to come to an end."

Cub felt his hands ball into fists. They couldn't do that...

"They stole our diamonds!" Doc yelled.

"And you_ tortured_ Mumbo, so who's in the wrong here?" Grian snapped back.

"At least_ I_ didn't kill him."

"That's enough!" Xisuma interrupted. "This is exactly what I'm talking about, you're getting petty rivalries split this server in half!"

There was another silence before Xisuma continued. "You know, I tried to get Joe here, I figured his way with words could help, but he was too _scared_ to confront either of you! This clearly isn't a game anymore when we're getting genuine terror and cold-blooded murder!" 

"What do you suggest we do, then?" Grian countered. "We can't just stop the war- you think all the rivalries will just die out?"

"I know," Xisuma explained. "That's why I've devised a plan. A fun game, really, like how this war was supposed to be? So you'll get your stupid winner, and this can finally end!" 

"And why should I trust you?" the G-Team leader spat. "You're a Team Star member, for all I know you could have it rigged against us!"

"I'm an admin first!" Xisuma sounded offended. "I don't hold ties to either team, this is ridiculous. Besides, our "enemy" is someone entirely different.

"Who?" Doc asked. "Concorp?"

"Exactly."

Cub felt his blood run cold. 

"They've been profiting off the war while innocent hermits are dying and suffering. While we've been fighting in a pointless battle they've been making diamonds galore, it's not a fair trade."

"What do you suggest we do, Xisuma?"

"Once the game is over, we need to do something about them. They won't get away with this."

Cub had heard enough. While those three talked about the rules of the game, Cub flew down to the bottom of the statue and escaped. He'd have to tell Scar, they wouldn't be safe for long. 


End file.
